No film during the fall season is as highly anticipated as “Joker: Folie a Deux.” Stamped as the sequel to the Oscar-winning film, “Joker,” it is set to grace theatres this year on Oct. 4.
To whet the appetites of die-hard DC comic book fans who have been waiting for the film’s release since its announcement last year, director Todd Phillips shared stills from the film on Instagram, narrating the sordid love affair of Joker, played by Joaquin Phoenix and Harley Quinn played by Lady Gaga.
The first shot shows the duo entrapped in a heart-shaped darkness. The second image shows Gaga’s nose nuzzling Phoenix’s through prison bars. The last shot shows the couple dancing on Gotham’s city rooftop, seemingly during the night.
Details of the film are yet to be made public, but going by the comic books produced by DC, it is set to chronicle the forbidden and psychotic love story of Joker and Quinn. Before they were known by their villainous names, Joker−whose real name is Jack Oswald White−was a patient of psychiatrist Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn). They both met at Arkham Asylum in Gotham City, and as the story goes, Quinn fell madly in love with Joker and chose a life of crime with him.
Principal photography for the film began on Dec. 10, 2022. It reportedly has a budget of $200 million, an upgrade from the $60 million budget of “Joker.”
Zazie Beetz, Steve Coogan, Brendan Gleeson, and Catherine Keener are the other confirmed cast members joining Gaga and Phoenix in “Joker: Folie a Deux.”